Unmarried? Living together? You're breaking the law in Florida

August 31, 2011|By Kathleen Haughney, Tallahassee Bureau

TALLAHASSEE – Unmarried couples who want to take the plunge and move in together, take heart. A Florida legislator is seeking to make you legal.

"Cohabitation" of unmarried people is currently a second-degree misdemeanor, punishable by $500 or up to 60 days in jail. The same penalty applies to cheating husbands and wives — though only to opposite-sex couples.

The laws have been on the books since the late 1800s, but are rarely enforced. In 2006, though, a Jacksonville woman did take advantage of the law and have her husband arrested for cheating, according to a news report. (It's not clear how the case came out.)

Now, Rep. Ritch Workman, R-Melbourne, is on a mission to repeal the statutes penalizing adultery and cohabitation, as well as other laws he finds outdated, like a requirement that all bicycle riders keep one hand on the handle bars. He filed adultery the bill last week — it's HB 4021 — though he hasn't returned phone calls about it for the past two days.

The bill has no Senate counterpart. And given the almost-certain opposition of social conservatives who lobby hard on "family values" issues, it'll face tough sledding in an election year.

Consider the response of State Rep. Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala, who previously headed the Florida chapter of the Christian Coalition: "I'm not ready to give up on monogamy and a cultural statement that marriage still matters," he said.